Researchers have discovered that Cuban boas coordinate their hunts to increase their chances of snapping up a meal.

They hang down from the ceiling of caves and, if there's more than one boa, coordinate to form a wall across the entrance, grabbing bats as they fly in and out.

The findings are significant because snakes have long been thought to be solitary hunters and eaters.

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Cuban boas (Chilabothrus angulifer) are one of the larger species of boa. They occur on the Island of Cuba and are found in tropical dry forest and scrub forest, where they can be found in holes and rock piles and on cultivated land

Cuban boas (Chilabothrus angulifer) are one of the larger species of boa.

They occur on the Island of Cuba and are found in tropical dry forest and scrub forest, where they can be found in holes and rock piles and on cultivated land.

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Many Cuban caves shelter large bat colonies, and in some of them, small populations of boas regularly hunt the bats as they fly out at dusk and return at dawn.

Dr Vladimir Dinets, a zoologist at the University of Tennessee, noticed that boas hung down from the cave entrance ceiling and grabbed bats as they flew past.

So he conducted a study where, for eight days, he observed Cuban boas hunting Jamaican fruit bats in a sinkhole cave in Desembarco del Gramma National Park in Cuba.

Nine boas lived in the cave, each easily recognizable by individual markings.

HOW THEY DID THE STUDY

Dr Vladimir Dinets, a zoologist at the University of Tennessee conducted a study where, for eight days, he observed Cuban boas hunting Jamaican fruit bats in a sinkhole cave in Desembarco del Granma National Park in Cuba.

Nine boas lived in the cave, each easily recognizable by individual markings.

The cave's ceiling was dotted with small pits, providing support for climbing boas.

After sunset and before dawn, some of the boas entered the passage that connected the bat roosting chamber with the entrance chamber, and hunted by suspending themselves from the ceiling and grabbing passing bats.

Dr Dinets collected all of his visual observations using red light, a laser distance meter and binoculars.

Every day during the observation period, most or all boas spent the daylight hours around the cave entrance, and most of the night in the chamber where a few hundred bats roosted during the day.

Dr Dinets wrote that this was possibly because that chamber was the warmest part of the cave at night, and/or because dead bats could occasionally be found there.

The cave's ceiling was dotted with small puts, providing support for climbing boas.

After sunset and before dawn, some of the boas entered the passage that connected the bat roosting chamber with the entrance chamber, and hunted by suspending themselves from the ceiling and grabbing passing bats.

Dr Dinets collected all of his visual observations using red light, a laser distance meter and binoculars.

Cuban boas hang down from the ceiling of caves and, if there's more than one boa, coordinate to form a wall across the entrance, grabbing bats as they fly in and out

Every day during the observation period, most or all boas spent the daylight hours around the cave entrance, and most of the night in the chamber where a few hundred bats roosted during the day.

Dr Dinets wrote that this was possibly because that chamber was the warmest part of the cave at night, and/or because dead bats could occasionally be found there.

After analyzing the data, Dr Dinets found that if more than one boa was present, the snakes coordinated their positions in such a way that they formed a wall across the entrance of the cave, making it difficult or impossible for the bats to pass without at least getting in striking distance of one boa.

He found that such group hunts were always successful, and the more snakes were present, the less time it took each to capture a bat.

However, if there was just one boa, it sometimes failed to catch a meal.

To date, only a few snake species have been observed to hunt in groups, and coordination among them - or among any other group-hunting reptiles - has never been proven.

On top of that, only a few of the world's 3,650 snake species have ever been observed hunting in the wild - so little is known about snakes' hunting tactics.

Cuban boas (Chilabothrus angulifer) at the entrance of a sinkhole cave, Desembarco del Granma National Park, Cuba. The high variability of individual markings allowed the researcher to identify them. Photography was not used inside the cave to avoid disturbing boas and bats

'It is possible that coordinated hunting is not uncommon among snakes, but it will take a lot of very patient field research to find out,' Dr Dinets said.

But according to Dr Dinets, Cuban boas are often hunted for food and possibly the pet trade, making it more difficult to observe them.

'I suspect that if their numbers in a cave fall, they can't hunt in groups anymore and might die out even if some of them don't get caught by hunters,' Dr Dinets said.

'A few of these caves are in national parks, but there's a lot of poaching everywhere.'